ATHENS

Concerns are rising among Greek officials that Athens could be excluded as tensions build between Brussels and Washington over Ukraine, local media reported Monday.

As US-Russia talks stir concern in Europe, some Greek officials have protested their exclusion from an emergency summit on Ukraine in Paris convened by French President Emmanuel Macron, the daily To Vima noted

The newspaper also highlighted strong criticism from opposition parties, accusing the government of allowing Greece to be sidelined in key geopolitical negotiations.

Syriza leader Socratis Famellos argued that Greece’s absence from the Paris summit reflects a broader foreign policy failure under the center-right New Democracy government led by Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

He further claimed that the government’s approach — including sending military aid to Ukraine without parliamentary transparency — has weakened Greece’s ability to play a leading diplomatic role.

However, according to To Vima, the government has dismissed concerns over the exclusion from the meeting in Paris.

“We are talking about an informal summit in which the largest economies in Europe plus Denmark, which had the largest contribution to military aid to Ukraine, participate,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis commented on the matter.

European leaders gathered Monday in Paris amid alarm over US President Donald Trump’s direct engagement with Russia and his administration’s intention to exclude the EU from planned Ukraine peace talks.

Participating in the summit were the leaders of the UK, Germany, Poland, Italy, and Denmark, as well as NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, apart from host Macron.

The meeting focused on European security and how to maintain support for Kyiv amid shifting US priorities.

Washington has also warned NATO that Europe will no longer be its top security priority as it focuses on China.